Here's the thing about Power Platform data migration - most UK SMEs think it's just copying files from one place to another.
They're wrong. And it's costing them years of business intelligence.
We've seen manufacturing companies lose six years of production data. Professional services firms watch their client history vanish. Retailers discover their sales trends are scrambled beyond recognition.
The statistics are sobering: 47% of Power Platform migrations experience significant data loss, according to Microsoft's own partner feedback data. But here's what's really happening behind those numbers.
Why Power Platform Data Migration Goes Wrong
Most business owners treat Power Platform migration like moving house - pack everything up, transport it, unpack at the other end.
But your data isn't furniture. It's interconnected, with relationships between Power BI datasets, Power Automate flows, and SharePoint lists that aren't immediately obvious.
Take a client we worked with last month - a Preston-based engineering firm. They'd been using Power BI for three years, building dozens of reports from multiple data sources. When they decided to migrate to a new Microsoft 365 tenant after an acquisition, they thought they could handle it internally.
Two weeks later, their production dashboards were showing completely wrong figures. Their inventory reports were pulling data from 2023. And their automated ordering system had stopped working entirely.
Red Flag Alert: If you're planning a Power Platform migration and someone says "it's just a matter of exporting and importing", run. Fast.
The Hidden Complexity Nobody Talks About
Power Platform isn't one system - it's an ecosystem. Your Power BI reports connect to datasets. Those datasets refresh from gateways. The gateways authenticate against specific service accounts.
And your Power Automate flows trigger from SharePoint, send data to Dataverse, and update records that feed back into Power BI.
Change one element, and the whole chain breaks.
Here's what actually needs migrating:
| Component | Common Issues | Recovery Time | |-----------|---------------|---------------| | Power BI Reports | Broken data source connections | 2-5 days | | Power BI Datasets | Lost refresh schedules | 1-3 days | | Power Automate Flows | Authentication failures | 3-7 days | | Dataverse Tables | Relationship mapping errors | 5-14 days | | Custom Connectors | Complete rebuild required | 7-21 days |
But the real killer? Data lineage. Most SMEs have no documentation showing how their data flows through the system. So when something breaks, they're debugging blind.
The Right Way to Plan Your Migration
We've developed a migration methodology after watching too many businesses suffer through botched moves. It's not glamorous, but it works.
Map Your Data Dependencies
Document every connection between your Power Platform components. Yes, it's tedious. Yes, it's essential. We use automated discovery tools to trace data lineage, but you can start with a simple spreadsheet listing every report, its data sources, and refresh schedules.
Audit Your Service Accounts
Most Power BI gateways run under service accounts that won't exist in your new environment. Identify every service account, document its permissions, and plan how authentication will work post-migration.
Test in Parallel
Never migrate live systems directly. Set up your new environment alongside the old one, migrate a subset of reports, and run them in parallel for at least two weeks. Compare outputs religiously.
Plan Your Rollback
Assume something will go wrong. Keep your old environment running for 30 days minimum. Document exactly how to switch back if needed.
The engineering firm we mentioned earlier? After their initial disaster, they brought us in to fix the migration properly. It took three weeks to untangle the mess and rebuild their reporting system correctly.
"We thought we'd save money doing the migration ourselves. Ended up costing us twice what a professional migration would have cost, plus nearly a month of broken reporting."
Common Migration Mistakes That Kill UK SMEs
Mistake #1: Ignoring Data Refresh Schedules
Your Power BI reports might look fine immediately after migration, but if the underlying datasets aren't refreshing properly, you're looking at stale data. We've seen businesses make critical decisions based on week-old information because their refresh schedules broke during migration.
Mistake #2: Forgetting About Mobile Users
Your field teams rely on Power BI mobile apps to access live data. Migration often breaks mobile authentication, leaving your remote workers blind. Test mobile access thoroughly before going live.
Mistake #3: Underestimating Dataverse Complexity
If you're using Dataverse (formerly Common Data Service), your data migration just got exponentially more complex. Table relationships, business rules, and security roles all need careful mapping to the new environment.
Pro Tip: Export your Dataverse solution as managed components before migration. It's the only reliable way to recreate complex table relationships.
Mistake #4: Skipping User Training
Post-migration, your team will encounter new URLs, potentially different authentication flows, and possibly changed report locations. Factor in user training time, or watch productivity plummet as confused staff struggle with the "new" system.
When to Call in Professional Help
Look, we're not trying to scare you off DIY migration entirely. Simple Power BI setups with basic reports can sometimes be migrated successfully by technical internal staff.
But call professionals if you have:
- More than 20 Power BI reports
- Any Power Automate flows that handle critical business processes
- Custom connectors or complex data sources
- Dataverse tables with custom business logic
- Multiple departments depending on Power Platform data
The cost of professional data migration services is almost always less than the cost of fixing a botched migration. And infinitely less than the cost of losing critical business data permanently.
Your Migration Checklist
Before you start any Power Platform migration:
□ Complete inventory of all Power BI reports and datasets
□ Documentation of data source connections and credentials
□ List of all Power Automate flows and their triggers
□ Dataverse schema export (if applicable)
□ Service account audit and migration plan
□ Parallel testing environment setup
□ User communication and training schedule
□ Rollback procedure documented
□ Post-migration validation checklist
□ 30-day support plan for issuesThe Bottom Line
Power Platform data migration isn't a weekend project. It's a business-critical process that deserves proper planning, adequate time, and realistic expectations.
Yes, it's possible to migrate successfully. We've helped dozens of UK SMEs move their Power Platform environments without losing data or disrupting business operations. But every successful migration starts with respect for the complexity involved.
Your business data represents years of accumulated intelligence. Customer patterns, sales trends, operational metrics - lose it, and you're flying blind.
Don't let poor migration planning put that intelligence at risk. Whether you handle it internally or work with specialists, invest the time to do it properly. Your future business decisions depend on it.
Considering a Power Platform migration or want to discuss your specific requirements? Our team has guided SMEs through complex data migrations without the drama. Check out our case studies or explore our BI & Data services to see how we approach these challenges.